Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for supplying air to linearly driven lifters and/or conveyors of a sheet-processing machine.
It has been known for a long time that, by suitable lifters and/or conveyors, for example suckers, sheets can be separated from a sheet pile by being lifted, and can be suitably transported in the direction of a sheet-processing machine, such as a printing press, for example. An air supply, in particular a suction air supply to the lifters and/or conveyors, is reliably provided by hoses which are connected to a suction air source and, in turn, connect the latter to a respective lifter and/or conveyor.
The published German Patent Document DE 36 D6 178 C1 has disclosed, for example, a device for separating and transporting a sheet from a sheet pile, the device being provided with a linear drive in the form of a working cylinder. A hose to which vacuum can be applied supplies a suction head with suction air from a non-illustrated suction air source.
Supplying moving suction air consumers by flexible hoses has the disadvantage that the continuous reciprocating movement loads the hoses severely and, in particular, in the case of high bending loading, leads to a rupturing of the supply hose.